Christmas Special: A Fireside Chat in The Shelbourne, Dublin

For their final episode of 2025, Dee Laffan & Oisín Davis of the Beár Bia travelling podcast wanted to celebrate Irish festive hospitality at its absolute finest - so they took a trip into town and hit up, The Shelbourne Hotel!

As one of the country's most iconic and beloved five-star hotels, the Shelbourne Hotel has over 200 years of history behind it. Praised as a Dublin city institution whose bars and restaurants are particularly vibrant during the Christmas period - the perfect time and place for some quintessentially Irish food & drinks! To get an understanding of what some of the recommended Irish food & drink pairings the Shelbourne have to offer the many merrymakers passing through its doors at the moment, we were honoured to spend some quality time with the hotel's General Manager, JP Kavanagh and their executive chef, Garry Hughes. 

Recorded in the cosy confines of the 1824 Bar, we were treated to two excellent Irish dishes alongside two beautiful Irish beers. 

Before we enjoyed our first pairing of the day, JP shared some remarkable key points in time around the Shelbourne Hotel before getting into some of the staggering numbers behind its meticulous operation. He himself has been there for 8 years and regards his role to be as much of a custodian as a manager. We were then treated to one of the most popular serves from the hotel, Flaggy Shore oysters and Guinness. On any given day, you can spot plates of these plump, juicy County Clare oysters in any of their bar areas or restaurant tables. Their saline sweetness is a great counterpart to the creamy hoppy notes of Ireland's most acclaimed stout, Guinness. A sumptuous and very traditional all-Irish pairing.

The second pairing was inland inspired and is a more recent addition to the menu - a signature sausage roll. Throughout his 18-year tenure as executive chef, Garry Hughes has created and overseen countless dishes, menus and banquets. With inspiration from his childhood, Garry crafted this dish as something fun yet fulfilling for the bars in the hotel as a comforting snack item. It's made with flaky butter pastry, Tommy Doherty's black pudding and pork mince, from Kells, County Meath, and Garry's secret mix of spices. The rich fattiness of the sausage roll was cut through with the citrus-forward, softly sweet Hopburgh Helles Lager we sipped with it. Brewed just across the river on Bow Street by Hopkins & Hopkins, think of it as an Irish-style lager but with a Vienna malt character. A refreshing combo to be had if you're planning a Christmas rendezvous in the hotel's Horseshoe Bar ,perhaps! 

We hope you enjoy our Christmas Special episode and Happy Christmas & New Year to one & all!!

Dee & Oisín 

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